Blog post 2: Faith

My recurring thought through each of these resources was that religious identities are only partly about religion. Kwame Anthony Appiah’s lecture reminds us that religion is not just what you believe, it’s what you do and who you do it with and that creed is often informed by practice rather than the other way around. This is reiterated by Craig Calhoun in the ‘Religion in Britain” paper. In Mark Dean’s (chaplain and interfaith advisor for CCW & CSM) interview for the SoN faith terms of reference, he points out that:

“approximately 50% of UAL students identify as religious and of those who don’t only a small minority identity as atheist”.

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This paints a picture of religion and spirituality as something more fluid than I had considered especially within the UAL community.

The idea of creed being only just a component of religious identity really struck me as a non-Catholic who was raised in Ireland, a Catholic country. Catholicism, because of its dominance over my country, feels part of my identity also because of the traditions and customs I have had to observe all my life. So, on a personal level these readings have been illuminating. 

Relating this back to my teaching and professional practice is slightly less tangible to me as a learning design technician who supports online learning within the technical workshops rather than directly teaching students.  However, it is still important for me to understand that religion is an intersectional dimension of student identity. While it may not seem apparent to me now, it can inform my approach to learning and digital design. 

Mark Dean’s interview also shows me that there is religious, spiritual, and sometimes just general life guidance available to students via chaplains. Additionally, as Craig Calhoun states that for

“‘pastoral care’ in UK universities; chaplains are important to it, and academics offer less than they once did.”

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Signposting this support in digital spaces could be a way I can support students but also being mindful that while this provision is becoming more of a scarcity in our HE landscapes, students are not needing less of it.  This reminded me of a study I read by Clare Sams about how arts technicians see their role. One technician shared a poster hanging their office that said “Psychiatric help: the doctor is in”, and explained that they:

chose this image into order to reveal a lesser-known aspect of the technical role, that of supporting students in a more holistic sense. The specific skills training and support provided by technicians are important, yet Technician A felt that the face-to-face interaction they provide is also of significant value to students.

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While I personally am an atheist and my personal preference would be for a secular educational system, the fact that academics are increasingly less able to provide this kind of pastoral care to their students feels less like a symptom of secularism in the UK (indeed as the readings show secularism may actually be more religious than it seems) and more so a symptom of neoliberalism. To be clear this is a criticism of universities being forced to operate as businesses and service providers rather than a criticism of academics, tutors etc. who are doing their best in this system. It again speaks to the need for critical pedagogies to challenge the diminishing space for care in our neoliberal education systems.

Readings

‘Creed’ (2016) The Reith Lectures, BBC, Radio 4 Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z43ds (Accessed: 18 May 2023)

Modood, T., & Calhoun, C. (2015). ‘Religion in Britain: Challenges for higher education’. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. Available at: http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/6379_lfhe_stimulus_paper_-_modood_calhoun_32pp.pdf (Accessed: 26 May 2023)

Sams, C. (2016) ‘How do art and design technicians conceive of their role in higher education?’, Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal, 1(2), pp. 62–69. 

Shades of Noir (2023) ‘Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality & Belief’. Available at https://issuu.com/shadesofnoir/docs/disabled_people (Accessed: 26 May 2023).